Loy Krathong is a Thai festival held on the full moon of the 12th lunar month (according to the Thai calendar) 

Loy means ‘to float’ and Krathong is the name of a basket. Thais make the Krathong (nowadays from biodegradable materials thankfully) and fill them with flowers. Sometimes small amounts of money are inside as an offering to the river spirits. The basket is topped by a candle and incense sticks which symbolise the Buddha.

The Krathong are launched after sunset usually on rivers but also lakes and canals. We went down to Asiatique which is a local market on the riverside. It was obviously a popular place as hundreds were there. Because the tide was low the Krathong at our spot were lowered into the river on poles. Unfortunately it was a bit windy so lots of them capsized almost immediately! The candles didn’t stay lit either. 

You can imagine what a spectacle it must be on a calm evening. 

This is a professional photo. 

At school we celebrated the day by wearing Thai clothes (although technically mine was Burmese as I bought it on holiday last week in Bagan) 

It looked lovely but I have to say that a long tight skirt is fairly restrictive and I could only take smallish steps. As it was a normal day’s work I found it quite frustrating not to be able to bowl along at my normal speed!!! And don’t even mention stairs!!! I couldn’t carry books AND hold my skirts up. 

The team looked good though 

From left to right it’s: Muay, Ping Ping, Mameaw, Marivic, me, Duck, Charlotte and Tub.